Evan Grimes

Evan Grimes enjoyed an outstanding athletic career at Antioch High School, excelling in both basketball and track and field. His accomplishments earned him the prestigious Antioch High School Male Athlete of the Year award in 2010.

On the basketball court, Grimes was one of the Panthers’ top performers. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Straw Hat Basketball Tournament and was chosen as the team’s Co-MVP as a senior. While basketball showcased his versatility and leadership, it was in track and field where he achieved his greatest success.

A four-year varsity track and field athlete, Grimes qualified for the North Coast Section Meet of Champions all four years of high school. Competing primarily in the long jump and triple jump, he spent his first three seasons without a dedicated jumps coach and felt he never fully reached his potential. That changed during his senior year when Coach Josh Tezeno joined Antioch’s staff. Tezeno quickly identified Grimes’ strengths and weaknesses, developing a training program that improved his speed and maximized his jumping ability.

The results were immediate. Grimes won the BVAL long jump title with a leap of 22 feet, 2 inches, then placed second at the North Coast Section III-A Championships with a jump of 22 feet, 1 inch. After fouling on all three attempts in the triple jump, he focused entirely on the long jump and responded with another runner-up finish at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions, improving to 22 feet, 10 inches and qualifying for the CIF State Championships.

At the State Meet, Evan advanced from the Friday trials to the Saturday finals. There he produced a lifetime-best jump of 23 feet, 2¼ inches to finish fourth, missing third place by just one-quarter inch. His performance made him only the seventh Antioch male athlete at that time to earn an individual medal at the CIF State Track and Field Championships.